{"id":2177,"date":"2026-05-21T02:40:47","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T02:40:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/05\/21\/ex-doj-prosecutor-charged-with-sending-sealed-jack-smith-trump-report-to-personal-email\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T02:40:47","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T02:40:47","slug":"ex-doj-prosecutor-charged-with-sending-sealed-jack-smith-trump-report-to-personal-email","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=2177","title":{"rendered":"Ex-DoJ prosecutor charged with sending sealed Jack Smith Trump report to personal email"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"border-color:var(--article-border);background-color:var(--article-inner-background)\" class=\"dcr-wqti5a\">\n<div class=\"dcr-2zxs1v\">\n<div style=\"--grid-area:media\" data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tr9ye5\">\n<figure id=\"52a8bbbe-14d2-447b-95d0-3b094db3bacc\" class=\"dcr-142siv7\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Man sits at desk\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/1240ced83d32dcbab576032746e4e4e9d7bed496\/0_0_6341_5073\/master\/6341.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"372.01466645639493\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><span class=\"dcr-v822l1\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-gup2gr\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fntg6k\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-1xgwz8b\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1os51wo\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Jack Smith before the House judiciary committee in Washington in January.<\/span> Photograph: Mark Schiefelbein\/AP<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"52a8bbbe-14d2-447b-95d0-3b094db3bacc\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-n4pnam\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1hdkqum\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Jack Smith before the House judiciary committee in Washington in January.<\/span> Photograph: Mark Schiefelbein\/AP<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:border\" data-gu-name=\"border\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:headline\" data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1aqe7zu\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-1k1a1x\">Ex-DoJ prosecutor charged with sending sealed Jack Smith Trump report to personal email<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:standfirst\" data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-15in7js\">\n<p>Carmen Mercedes Lineberger accused of hiding files related to Trump documents investigation as bundt cake recipe<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:body\" data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-kn9unn\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1a4fred\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-ydnaza\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-1c9t5u6\">\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">A former Department of Justice prosecutor is facing felony charges after emailing herself a sealed Biden-era investigative report concerning Donald Trump and attempting to hide the documents as cake recipes, federal authorities <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-ndfl\/pr\/former-doj-attorney-indicted-concealment-theft-government-records\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">said<\/a> on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Carmen Mercedes Lineberger, who worked as a managing assistant US attorney in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/florida\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Florida<\/a>, is facing two counts of theft of government money or property in addition to charges related to her alleged alteration of the documents, according to the indictment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">In early 2025, Lineberger received a copy of an internal report \u201crelated to a pending federal criminal investigation\u201d, which she would later send from her DoJ inbox to her personal email in December 2025, according to the indictment. The report was filed in the US district court for the southern district of Florida, where she was employed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Lineberger allegedly sought to hide evidence of the document by changing its name to \u201cBundt_Cake_Recipe.pdf\u201d before saving it to her government-issued computer, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The indictment did not offer further details about the nature of the report, but it did characterize the document as being blocked from public release, per an order from US district judge Aileen M Cannon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Cannon, who Trump has previously <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/politics\/2025\/12\/judge-aileen-cannon-trump-grand-jury\/685387\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">lauded<\/a> as a \u201cmodel of what a judge should be\u201d, barred the former DoJ special counsel Jack Smith from discussing or sharing any findings from his investigation into Trump\u2019s alleged mishandling of White House documents at the end of his first term.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Smith also led an investigation into Trump\u2019s alleged plot to obstruct the 2020 election. Both cases were dropped after Trump secured a second term. Justice department policy protects sitting presidents from criminal prosecution.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">In a January court filing, federal prosecutors condemned Smith\u2019s report. \u201cThe illicit product of an unlawful investigation and prosecution belongs in the dustbin of history,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Meanwhile, advocacy groups have sought to unseal the report through court appeals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">It\u2019s unclear why Lineberger sent the report to herself. She faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison if convicted of the charges.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-qxqnsy\"><span class=\"dcr-1rq3vad\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-1dzx48f\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-1rrvs2w\">\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-politics\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">US politics<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/florida\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Florida<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/trump-administration\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Trump administration<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/tone\/news\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">news<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-nu129i\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=Ex-DoJ%20prosecutor%20charged%20with%20sending%20sealed%20Jack%20Smith%20Trump%20report%20to%20personal%20email&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/20\/doj-prosecutor-jack-smith-trump-report-email?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-125qj9d\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-zhx6xs\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fmay%2F20%2Fdoj-prosecutor-jack-smith-trump-report-email&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/may\/20\/doj-prosecutor-jack-smith-trump-report-email\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-14rjinq\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:right-column\" data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-1h2hraq\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tn16h9\">\n<section class=\"dcr-1hko8ef\"><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jack Smith before the House judiciary committee in Washington in January. Photograph: Mark Schiefelbein\/AP View image in fullscreen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":2179,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2177\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}